Why bereaved families in the UK deserve better and what can be done

Hannah Bardell MP (seated, centre) with contributors to the APPG including co-Founder of Murdered Abroad, Eve Henderson (back, right)

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Deaths Abroad, Consular Services and Assistance report, published today, is the start of a campaign that Murdered Abroad is committed to supporting. It is a roadmap for change.

The APPG met and took evidence from around 60 families (including members of Murdered Abroad), and 50 government departments, NGOs and third party organisations, including Murdered Abroad. 

Chair of the APPG, Hannah Bardell MP, commented: “On numerous occasions we listened in disbelief as grieving parents or spouses told us about horrific events, feeling lost and abandoned and simply hoping for a kind word from someone who could help them.

“This report is for them. This work is for them. It is in memory of the love and lives they have lost. We know nothing we say or do will return that to them. Every single family with whom we spoke was clear that they were giving evidence not for them, because “it was too late”. Instead, they came forward in a bid to ensure that in the future, other families do not have to experience the depth of despair that they have in their crusades towards justice.”

Most of the changes in the report are about altering behaviours and processes and creating a protocol that government departments, the police, victim support, airlines, airports, holiday companies, the insurance and legal sectors can work to. These are common sense and necessary changes that Murdered Abroad is keen to ensure take place.

Thank you to everyone who made this report possible and for the families who shared their traumatic experiences in the hope of helping others.